Hornbeams and hedges
by Linda Dolata, 26 November, 2018, 3 comments
Many of the woods for thirty miles around, and even within, London( for example, Highgate woods, Queenswood, Coldfall Wood - all in Harringay) are predominantly of hornbeam coppice. These were usually planted with maiden (single-stemmed) oaks, which were timber trees. Hornbeam is a native tree, a little like beech in appearance, but with bark that looks as if it has been flayed. Although it naturally forms a single stemmed tree, hornbeam also coppices easily. These were once worked woods, cut in cycles to supply wood, which is very dense (hence horn-beam). Hornbeam was used as a crop for fuel (either directly or as charcoal) as it was so slow burning. As it was so hard that it did not distort, it was also for moving parts such as the hubs for wagon wheels. It is said that some of these woodlands date back to Roman times and beyond, where the charcoal was needed for smelting iron. Read more...
